WHEN the day that must come shall have come suddenly
None shall treat that sudden coming as a lie
Day that shall abase! Day that shall exalt
When the earth shall be shaken with a shock
And the mountains shall be crumbled with a crumbling
And shall become scattered dust
And into three bands shall ye be divided
Then the people of the right hand - Oh! how happy shall be the people of the right hand
And the people of the left hand - Oh! how wretched shall be the people of the left hand
And they who were foremost on earth - the foremost still
These are they who shall be brought nigh to God
In gardens of delight
A crowd of the former
And few of the latter generations
On inwrought couche
Reclining on them face to face
Aye-blooming youths go round about to the
With goblets and ewers and a cup of flowing wine
Their brows ache not from it, nor fails the sense
And with such fruits as shall please them best
And with flesh of such birds, as they shall long for
And theirs shall be the Houris, with large dark eyes
like pearls hidden in their shells
In recompense of their labours past
No vain discourse shall they hear therein, nor charge of sin
But only the cry, "Peace! Peace!"
And the people of the right hand - oh! how happy shall be the people of the right hand
Amid thornless sidrah
And tall trees clad with fruit
And in extended shade
And by flowing waters
And with abundant fruits
Unfailing, unforbidden
And on lofty couches
Of a rare creation have we created the Houris
And we have made them ever virgins
Dear to their spouses, of equal age with them
For the people of the right hand
A crowd of the former
And a crowd of the latter generations
But the people of the left hand - oh! how wretched shall be the people of the left hand
Amid pestilential winds and in scalding water
And in the shadow of a black smoke
Not cool, and horrid to behold
For they truly, ere this, were blessed with worldly goods
But persisted in heinous sin
And were wont to say, "What! after we have died, and become dust and bones, shall we be raised
And our fathers, the men of yore?"
SAY: Aye, the former and the latter
Gathered shall they all be for the time of a known day
Then ye, O ye the erring, the gainsaying
Shall surely eat of the tree Ez-zakkoum
And fill your bellies with it
And thereupon shall ye drink boiling water
And ye shall drink as the thirsty camel drinketh
This shall be their repast in the day of reckoning
We created you, will ye not credit us
What think ye? The germs of life
Is it ye who create them? or are we their creator
It is we who have decreed that death should be among you
Yet are we not thereby hindered from replacing you with others, your likes, or from producing you again in a form which ye know not
Ye have known the first creation: will ye not then reflect
What think ye? That which ye sow
Is it ye who cause its upgrowth, or do we cause it to spring forth
If we pleased we could so make your harvest dry and brittle that ye would ever marvel and say
"Truly we have been at cost
yet are we forbidden harvest."
What think ye of the water ye drink
Is it ye who send it down from the clouds, or send we it down
Brackish could we make it, if we pleased: will ye not then be thankful
What think ye? The fire which ye obtain by friction
Is it ye who rear its tree, or do we rear it
It is we who have made it for a memorial and a benefit to the wayfarers of the desert
Praise therefore the name of thy Lord, the Great
It needs not that I swear by the setting of the stars
And it is a great oath, if ye knew it
That this is the honourable Koran
Written in the preserved Book
Let none touch it but the purified
It is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds
Such tidings as these will ye disdain
Will ye make it your daily bread to gainsay them
Why, at the moment when the soul of a dying man shall come up into his throat
And when ye are gazing at him
Though we are nearer to him than ye, although ye see us not:
Why do ye not, if ye are to escape the judgment
Cause that soul to return? Tell me, if ye speak the truth
But as to him who shall enjoy near access to God
His shall be repose, and pleasure, and a garden of delights
Yea, for him who shall be of the people of the right hand
Shall be the greeting from the people of the right hand - "Peace be to thee."
But for him who shall be of those who treat the prophets as deceivers, And of the erring
His entertainment shall be of scalding water
And the broiling of hell-fire
Verily this is a certain truth
Praise therefore the name of thy Lord, the Great